On making Applesauce

Whew! Lesson learned, when they say "add just enough water to prevent sticking" they mean add just enough water to prevent sticking! Now I have to slowly boil off the excess. The problem is that it's difficult, as the apples soften, to keep them from sticking anyway. In spite of that, however, the first batch tastes great, second batch is in the pot ready for boiling and spicing, third batch is still whole, final portion will likely remain as apples for the kids.

I have to say though, it is cinnamon and a little nutmeg (having had a very bad experience with nutmeg, I am understandably cautious about it's usage), that really takes an applesauce from being mediocre to being sublime.

Apples and Peaches, Oh my!

Today I purchased a bushel of apples (approximately 35 lbs) and a half-bushel of peaches (approximately 15 lbs). I'm working on spiced applesauce, spiced peach jam, and canned peaches. It's an interesting venture, to be sure. I have discovered that while I didn't really have the patience for preserving when I was younger, I truly enjoy doing it now. It's fun to watch things take shape. And knowing we'll be literally enjoying the fruits of my labor this coming winter is an added bonus!

Fall/Winter Crops

Yep! It's that time of the year. A lot of the spring and summer crops have been harvested and either eaten or preserved and stored. Spring and summer fruits are likewise put up. Now is the time to re-till parts of the garden, pulling up the dying vines and stalks, and plant my fall and winter crops. On the agenda this season will be swiss chard, collards, carrots, broccoli, lettuce (maybe), radishes, and kholrabi.

The sunflower seeds are ready to be harvested and tomatoes are still giving fruit, though it won't be long until those will come out. We have one very nice looking pumpkin just turning orange and at least half a dozen NICE looking butternut squash. I purchased a bushel of apples and half a bushel of peaches to put up. Next week I may break down and buy half a bushel of beans to put up. I would like to have a variety of veggies and jams available this winter. The yams are growing well, however since they were a late addition to the garden, I'm giving them at least another month of growing time.

Next year I'm planning on turning over 2 large sections of the back of the garden and putting the melons, squashes, and cukes over there. The vines are just too invasive for me to like having them on the east side of the lot. And it gives me more room. Half a plot of tomatoes is good, I like having 2 rows of sunflowers. I may add some corn next year, the kids like it and several stalks came up this year anyway.

Inventing Games

I find it interesting that more families don't do this very thing. I am working at my PC and outside I can hear my older children playing the game we invented called Freeze-Go, which when played correctly and with some pizazz is a ton of fun, and it makes me wonder how many of the 'other' children playing outside will pass this game along to their children someday. My point however isn't the game itself, but the concept. Most of our games are intellectual these days, though not all of them have been, a few were created purely for the fun of it! Freeze-go is the most frequently played. I've also invented games for when they were little as ways to get my children to mind me, games such as the Quiet game and Stay-in-Your-Square for when we were out in public. In the car on long rides we play Tell-the-Truth, I-Spy, Spell-It, or mental math games. In a living room it's the Pick-a-Letter-Name game. Not all of these games have actual names, the only one we refer to is Freeze-Go. All the rest are usually made up on the fly, creating rules where necessary.

You know you've made it as a concept designer when...

Someone actually makes 3 movies about your concept, then someone goes and makes a spoof movie about the 3 movies.

Gotta love Vampires Suck as the spoof on Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. I think it's fair to say Stephanie Meyer can be proud of her mini-empire.

Preschool Curriculum

Here I sit... at 1 in the morning... trying to settle on a curriculum for my preschooler. Of course, being the kind of person that doesn't believe that any one way is the right way, I have to go and create my own as a sort of amalgam of a variety of different ones. And what I've learned so far... is that there is an awful lot of stuff to teach these little people! How in the world do kindergarten teachers manage to get everything entrenched in them in just 9 short months?!?! I mean, just looking at true basics, not even taking anything else into consideration, there are 26 upper case and 26 lower case letters. Each letter generally has more than one sound. So to ease reading, they ought to learn the phonetics of each letter, to ease writing they need to learn each letter's look. For lack of time I may have to combine upper AND lower (which I don't really want to do) simply because we would still be at them next summer! The phonetics are harder, I really hesitate to put multiple sounds together in the same week. So for Aa, it'll start with the short sound (apple), but then I'm stumped, should I spend 2 weeks on Aa so that the second she can learn about airplanes?! And for C I was going to use cow or cat, but I don't want to confuse her when we get to kitten (hard C and soft C). Do I start her later in the year on double consonants ch and th or hold that until she's actually in kindergarten, because I really don't remember if that's taught in preschool or not!

You see?! Something that ought to be simple or intuitive is NOT. My respect for teachers has just shot up about a thousand-fold! Because in with the alphabet I have to teach her about colors, shapes, numbers, body parts, music, animals, crafts, and so many more things. I'm exhausted and I've just started trying to put together an overview! I haven't even gotten to specifics yet. Take pity on me. LOL

A new adventure: Homeschooled Preschool!

That's right, I have decided I will not allow my preschooler to fall behind other children her age. And while I am running a bit short on planning time, I'm going to start with a pre-set arrangement (in other words, a curriculum already written out) for the first week to give me some breathing room. My current plan is also to speak with the school she'll be attending to find out what skills they would expect the average kindergartner to possess. Then I will base my teachings on those expectations.

The most important aspects for preschool, in my personal opinion, are reading and writing (alphabet and name), counting, pattern recognition, shape, color, and basic animal recognition, art (crafts), music (singing and perhaps the piano), dexterity, physical capability, and expanded life skills. The most important thing for her though will be to have a structured day. However, it might sound simpler than it really will be since there is a wild card in all of this... the toddler. That's right! A barely toddling, into everything, make-a-mess-in-2-seconds-when-you-aren't-looking little brother! Of all those I've asked about it, no one I know has tried teaching a preschooler with a toddler underfoot. So if nothing else, this should be a true adventure. Most important for me will be to try and keep the television to an absolute minimum. For, while she does watch educational shows, they can't teach her everything I want her to learn. I will have to stay on track as much as possible. She will begin next Tuesday, when her sisters start their school.